The Gift of Bunny
by Eris Clio
Summary: Snape is convinced Remus Lupin's Christmas gift it trying to kill him. Is Severus overreacting, or is Remus up to one last marauder prank? Involves rabbits.
1. The Gift

Hope you like it!

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or the people in it :)

Severus Snape was not usually a happy man. Although many would disagree I'm sure, he would say, if asked, that he didn't have much to be happy about. And on this day in mid-December, Severus was very unhappy indeed. Worse than when Neville Longbottom made his boggart wear a dress. Worse than when Sirius Black tried to get him eaten by a werewolf. Even worse than when he unknowingly relayed the Prophecy to the Dark Lord and accidentally caused the death of the love of his life. Okay, probably not worse than that.

But today was special. Today was the day that Albus Dumbledore had announced the beginning of a 'Secret Santa' gift exchange for all the staff of Hogwarts to participate in. Minerva and Filius were happy to draw names on paper out of the large gold goblet Albus had placed in the center of the staff room table. Even Sybill Trelawney came down from her smoky tower room to take part in the fun. Remus Lupin was of course overly happy about it. But Severus hated it. He knew he didn't want to buy anything for anyone, and he absolutely hated Christmas presents. Even when he was young his parents would buy him things, and although he never told them directly, he would have rather not been forced to make his way through the shiny paper and pretty bows.

And what was so bad about this special evening on this special day? Severus had chosen out of the goblet, none other than Remus Lupin's name. Of course, Albus had probably enchanted the cup to make him choose that paper, simply because it would make them interact with each other, something that Albus had been trying to get them to do for the past few months. The Headmaster was convinced that if they just talked it out, all their problems would disappear. This is the reason Severus Snape was currently stomping up the stairs to the Headmaster's office, angry and also a bit confused. What do you buy a werewolf anyway? A dog toy?

As the grey door swung open to reveal the Headmaster reading a book at his desk, Severus marched in, determined.

"Albus, why do you do this to me?"

Albus looked confused. After thinking for a moment, he caught on.

"Look, Severus I know you're not a fan of games, but I think a gift exchange is a wonderful idea, everyone gets a gift and it will be very fun also. It will give us something to do at the annual staff Christmas party instead of just staring at each other and drinking fire-whiskey, like always."

"Albus," Severus started, "I don't care about the silly game! What I care about is for whom I am expected to buy a gift." He said the last three words as if it was the most outrageous thing he had ever had to say.

"Severus, no need to complain! You've known every one of the staff members, most for many years! How hard could it be to conjure up a present that suits them, or go to Hogsmeade and buy one, and place a bow on it? "

Severus was about to speak when he was suddenly interrupted,

"-you know, I knew you would complain about this Severus! No matter whose name you took out of that goblet. Why can't you just calm down and be an adult about it? You've always been stubborn, but this is a bit out of hand."

Snape didn't know what to say to that remark, so he just held his breath.

"Now I don't care whose name is in your hand right now on that paper, I expect you to go out and find them a gift they will like. And no jokes, now. Not like a few years ago when you gave Minerva catnip. If you give him dog biscuits I will fire you. That is not acceptable behavior for someone your age. "

Severus knew that was the queue to leave. He agreed with the headmaster and turned towards the door.

"And make sure to wrap it nicely. We have paper in the supply room, I suggest the one with snowmen on it!" the Headmaster called kindly, as though the entire previous conversation had not happened.

"Of course, Albus." Severus said through gritted teeth.

The rest of the week, thoughts of gifts and werewolves crossed Severus' mind now and then. He still had no idea what to buy as a present, and if he didn't get something nice that Lupin would enjoy, Albus would be angry. But how angry would he be? Maybe Severus would get fired. No, it couldn't be that bad. Maybe house points would be taken away from Slytherin and given to Gryffindor? No, too childish. No matter, Severus was sure that he did not want to find out. And that was why he was currently pacing his study trying to think of what to get Lupin for Christmas.

If someone would have told him in his Hogwarts years that he would one day be buying Christmas presents for Remus John Lupin, he would have called them crazy. But now it seemed normal, and also quite frightening. What if he bought something that he thought was nice, but Lupin hated? Albus would think he did it on purpose. He had to find something sure.

Then it came to him, Remus Lupin was always eating chocolate, he loved it, even Severus Snape knew that much about the man. If he could just buy some of Honeyduke's Finest Chocolate, and put a nice bow on it, Albus would be very impressed, and Severus would avoid any possible trouble or arguments.

And Lupin would be happy as well. But that was the least of his worries.

December twenty-fourth arrived with a heavy snowfall, covering the bare trees and fogging up the windows of Hogwarts. Hagrid could be seen dragging in last-minute pine trees and Peeves could be seen propping doors open to let in bursts of cold air and snow. Everyone wore scarves where ever they walked, and even to some classes, mainly Potions, as it was in the dungeons and Snape could have put the heat on, but he liked to see them suffer.

It was eight o' clock at night, and the staff Christmas party was almost starting. Severus arrived a few minutes late, and immediately poured a large glass of brandy.

However, Severus did admit that the house elves and Flitwick had outdone themselves this year. The staff room was normally decorated for the holidays, but this day was something amazing. Red and gold and green tinsel and streamers from the ceiling, pine trees covered in ornaments and fairy lights. There was real snow in some places, although the room was a comfortable temperature, and even mistletoe above the entrance which Severus avoided at all costs. Not to mention all the food that was laid out. Candy, mainly. Severus wondered if it was customary for adults to eat candy. He figured he didn't want to take a chance, so he decided not to eat any. You never know who could be watching, just waiting to catch you doing something childish. He did have some cake though; it was too pretty to pass by.

"There you are, Severus!" came a cheerful call from the far end of the room, by the fireplace. The flames were enchanted to dance red and green.

Remus Lupin ran up to the Potions Master, a little too joyfully, and looked very excited. Did he know he was about to get a gift? Had he planned this? Stupid werewolf, cheating at the game!

"Severus, there you are, I've been looking for you all evening! I have your present. Go ahead, open it."

Remus handed a large box to Severus. It was green and silver and had a white bow on it. It was a bit large but wrapped nicely.

Severus accepted the box, and set it on the table next to him. Oh goodness, this couldn't go over well. Of everyone in the room to choose his name, it had to be Lupin? This couldn't have been a coincidence, Albus must have done it. Severus glanced over towards the Headmaster, who was currently eating sugar covered cake of a nice pink color. Albus noticed him glaring and just smiled guiltily when he saw Snape point at Lupin and give a confused look.

So Albus had planned this.

Snape shoved his present for Lupin into the unsuspecting hands of its recipient. Lupin just stared at it like it was dangerous. Or fragile. Severus couldn't tell which.

Remus slowly tore open the gold wrapping paper, and removed the purple bow to reveal a large bar of chocolate. Honeyduke's Finest, but not just the ordinary kind, Severus wanted to make sure Albus was satisfied with his gift so he went above and beyond. So he had bought the cherry flavored chocolate, much nicer, (and unfortunately more expensive) than plain chocolate.

Remus looked like his eyes would burst from his face if he opened them any wider.

"Thank you so much, Severus." Remus said truthfully.

Severus was just about to feel proud of his accomplishment, when one sudden hug made him immediately regret everything he'd done.

"I was forced into this! Don't think we're friends now because I bought you chocolate!"

His remark was ignored.

"Open yours now, Severus, go on! I know you'll like it." Remus drawled, anxious, and cuddling his chocolate which caused it to melt somewhat.

"Well, how about I just do that later, I really need some more brandy, and-"

"I highly suggest you open it right away, though."

With this, the box rattled slightly. Oh, God.

By now, almost all the teachers were watching Severus attempt to open the gift. They were crowded around the wooden table, some in poufy chairs, some standing or leaning, all curious to know what was in this box, currently emitting shuffling sounds.

Many thoughts crossed Snape's mind as he slowly tore away the ribbons. A monster of some sort? One of Hagrid's beloved creatures? A baby dragon? A baby werewolf? Maybe just a regular baby. Wait, that wouldn't make sense.

The box was unwrapped and fortunately had stopped moving. Severus tentatively opened the lid, but first glanced at Lupin, who was smiling and gave a slight nod, as a go-ahead.

Inside was indeed a live creature. Snape stared at it for a few moments, and then looked up at Remus, nonplussed.

"Isn't she wonderful? She likes lettuce and when you pet her chin!"

It was a small black bunny. Severus didn't know what to say.

One angry, warning glance from Albus Dumbledore, however, and suddenly Severus knew exactly what to say.

"Oh, it's nice. I like it."

Remus beamed. Albus gave an approving look.

The rest of the party went by fast. Although enjoyable, Snape's happiness was somewhat diminished by the multitude of questions that faced him once he had accepted his gift.

Throughout the night, Remus asked Severus four different times what he was going to do with his new pet. Where will it sleep? On the table. What will you feed it? Rabbit things. What will you name it? I will name it Rabbit. Do you know how to care for a rabbit, Severus? I teach first years, it's the same thing right?

Constant harassment from that werewolf. He must have thought Severus was going to forget to feed it or something.

The rest of the party had gone by quickly, and Severus enjoyed himself for once. They all enjoyed watching Sybill try to predict things, and placed bets on if she'd be correct, and Minerva had a bit too much fire-whiskey and accidentally set a tree on fire.

Towards the end, Severus picked up the box with the rabbit in it and walked towards the door. He looked down into the box to see the creature staring up at him, with its paws on the side of the cardboard. Its paws were tan, conflicting with the black everywhere else.

"What."

The rabbit looked away, the same thing any student would do when confronted with an angry Snape.

Albus approached slowly from the far recesses of the room, as everyone was leaving and filtering through the doorway. It was one in the morning, and although not all of the staff had stayed over break, there were still enough to crowd the small room. Remus exited with one last bright smile and a caring glance in the direction of the box.

"I'm impressed." Albus started, standing next to Severus watching everyone leave, yet not meeting his eyes as he spoke. He was wearing a red and grey hat that was embroidered with what looked like real snowflakes.

"Impressed about what, exactly, sir?"

"You gave Remus a gift that made him happy, and accepted a live animal in return. I'm very proud of you for that, I know it was very difficult. You must have been practicing." he added jokingly.

"Yes, people give me rabbits all the time."

"Just-" here Albus paused, "-try to get along with him? I know it's not easy, but he does mean well."

"Well when he and his friends stop trying to kill me, then maybe I will consider it." and with that Severus left the room, sweeping his long black robes behind him. It would have been intimidating if he had not been holding a bunny.

Albus considered how amazing it was for a person to hold a grudge for so long.

Down in Severus' chambers, he was getting ready to go to bed for the night. After all, it was already Christmas and he wanted to get a good night's sleep so that he wouldn't be tired in the morning for lunch, or for that matter, dinner. The house elves usually made a very good dinner on this holiday night, and no one except him, the Headmaster, and a few other teachers joined in for it. The children would never come to this. That meant no children in the Great Hall during mealtime. It should be like that every day.

He walked over to the table on his way to the closet and glanced down at the rabbit. At least Remus Lupin was sensible at choosing color. He did like the way the rabbit looked very soft, and found himself desiring to pet it. He was worried that he would get attached to the creature, however, so he withheld. The rabbit was sitting on a small bed of- of what? Severus didn't know what it was called, he was not familiar with rabbit words. Bedding? That must be it. However, he realized that it had no food. He reached down to pet it, just as a very unwelcome knock came on the door.

Severus assumed Lupin would be by eventually to tell him how to take care of this pet. To give him a supply of food and teach him which cleaning spell was best for the box. But this soon? Although, honestly, the visit was not completely unwelcome. Severus realized that he did need to know these things and the sooner the better.

"Good evening, I just thought I'd drop by some food for your gift." Remus said with a calm smile. He was carrying an armful of carrots and lettuce which he no doubt had stolen from the kitchens. What a jerk.

"Can I just throw this on the table, then?" He asked in a polite voice. Severus nodded, but before that even happened Remus was on his way towards the bunny box.

His visitor started sorting out the food, from the toys he had brought. Severus stood there watching this display and wondered how many pets Remus had had before this; he seemed quite experienced. Why would pets even like him? Severus wondered vaguely to himself. Then he realized Lupin probably went through many pets. One every month in fact, since he most likely ate them during each full moon. Why did he bring so much rabbit food? That animal can't fit all that inside it! Those carrots alone are larger than the rabbit. What's he playing at?

"-and then you just feed her, like this, and you just put the food by her and you'll be fine-"

Severus was drawn out of his reverie. Remus grimaced.

"Severus? Have you been paying attention?"

"What?"

A raised eyebrow.

"Of course I have. Feed it. I understand."

Just then then box gave a frantic lurch towards the edge of the table it was sitting on. The rabbit had apparently tried to jump over the side. She had caught one foot on the box though. As she struggled, trying to regain her footing, Remus helped her up.

Severus posed the strange question that had been on his mind for a while.

"You eat this sort of thing, right?"

"Beg pardon?"

"During the full moon, you eat these. Do you want to eat it now?" Severus questioned, with a slightly evil smirk.

Remus made a face. "Why on earth would you ask that? Of course I don't want to eat this rabbit! But yes, there was one time that a rabbit wandered into the Shrieking Shack and I may have accidentally eaten it in my younger days. But that is none of your concern!"

"I was just asking."

A minute or two passed where Remus just stared at the rabbit, petting it. Not wanting to leave it, Severus supposed. Remus broke his concentration and offered one last bit of advice.

"Oh, and one last thing…don't forget, you need to actually care for her. Not just feed her and clean the box now and then, but actually give her attention. I won't go as far as to say 'love' because I don't really know if you're capable of extreme emotions like that, but at least don't ignore her, please. Here, hold her!"

A fluffy item was shoved into Severus' hands. It felt weird. Warm and soft and fragile and Severus didn't think he liked it. Then it became not-so-fluffy and it bit him, on his finger.

He dropped it immediately, but remembered it was alive in time to catch it before it touched the floor. Near miss, though.

As Remus Lupin made to leave, he had a fearful look on his face. Remus was normally a rather trustworthy fellow, but this made him feel uneasy. A live animal in the care of Severus Snape. Poor thing.

With one last, "Take care," Lupin was out the door, and Snape was left holding the little black rabbit which was writhing trying to escape. Strange, when Remus held it, there was no movement at all, it was content and motionless in his arms. He put it back in its box.

As he watched it, he wondered it if had any magical properties. After all, they were in the wizarding world, where practically everything was enchanted. He performed some customary spells on it but they revealed it to be a plain boring rabbit.

Severus put a carrot in the box, leaning it upright against the side of the rabbit, and went to bed.

Next chapter up very soon :) Please review to tell me what you think.


	2. Unicorns

Christmas morning came too early. Although a happy day, not all inhabitants of Hogwarts were happy. Severus woke up to a very cold room, but also a few presents at the foot of his bed, delivered by sneaky house elves during the night. He always thought it strange how they were allowed to break into his room. But rules were rules. He looked through the gifts. Some cookies from his mother, a knitted scarf from Narcissa in green and silver, a potions book from Albus, a new Death Eater mask from Lucius, (and oddly, also more cookies), and mittens from the Dark Lord.

Also a knife, from Bellatrix. There's one in every family, Severus thought.

He was happy for a few moments. Glad for once, of his gifts, and also glad that he would have a delicious meal in the great hall, just the staff, and no students. Walking out into the small sitting room containing a few armchairs, a table or two and the fireplace, Severus put on his new scarf and tried on the Voldemort mittens. They were surprisingly soft.

He stored the scarf and mittens in his closet and the book on his shelf and the knife in his desk drawer. He could at least use the pretty emerald dagger to open letters, although he was quite sure that was not the giver's intended purpose.

He spotted the box. That's right…he remembered. He was now sharing his quarters with another. A rabbit. A rabbit which had been surprisingly quiet all night, and all morning. Didn't rabbits purr? Or was that kittens? Severus was no expert at these things. However, something seemed amiss. He peered down into the box. There was no carrot there from last night. At least it was eating. There was also no rabbit. As he searched the room for signs of bunny, he wondered what would happen if he never found it. The thought of a dead rabbit somewhere in his rooms was unnerving, but the guaranteed look of anger and sadness that would be on Lupin's face once he found out, was comforting.

As Severus decided he'd walk to the bedroom and search in there, since he had left the door open after all, he suddenly tripped on something that had appeared in his path. Something that wasn't there before. A carrot. Halfway eaten, but large enough to cause pain if tripped over.

Suspicious behavior for a carrot.

Severus glanced around hopefully, knowing the pet must be close. There it was, sitting on top of the coffee table, next to the box. Severus was sure he'd just looked there not a minute ago. He moved to pick it up and put it in the box, but when he did, it raised a paw and scratched him across the cheek. The nerve of some rabbits. That was uncalled for! He told this to the rabbit. Nevertheless, he placed her into the box, and gave her a new carrot. He also put protective spells around the box so there would be no more break-outs.

Then he realized….that was it. That was perfect.

He had finally found a name for the rabbit. A name that was funny, ironic, and would make Lupin sad all at the same time!

Sirius Black. Likes to break out of his cage. Likes to sneak around Hogwarts. Likes to cause pain to Severus Snape. And coincidentally, both had black hair, what else? Hmm, does Black like carrots?

Severus shook this thought from his mind and smiled evilly at the rabbit. He couldn't wait to tell Lupin all about this.

He passed his day reading his new potions book and eating cookies. Lunch was bearable, but it was dinner he was looking forward to.

Climbing the steps to the Entrance Hall, he took his place at the single table in the middle of the hall next to Minerva, as per usual. Albus sat across from him, and even though the full moon was a night ago, Remus Lupin had staggered down from his bed to eat with his fellow co-workers. It was a meal, although not as elegant as lunch had been, that most teachers didn't want to miss. Besides the few who had taken their places at the table, there was still to join, Sprout, Hagrid, Flitwick, and Sinistra. Everyone else had gone home or stayed in their rooms for the holidays. Oh, well, this was after all a special treat for the teachers. They had some time to talk together without children, a rare reward. They were also allowed to drink. An even better reward.

They enjoyed a small meal and chatter was plentiful and come dessert, everyone was in a good mood. It must have been Christmas spirit. Although, everyone had at least one glass of fire-whiskey. Lupin, who was seated on Snape's other side, finally asked the question Severus had hoped he would ask all night.

"So how is your new pet doing, Severus? Is she comfortable in your rooms?"

"I think she's quite happy. Unfortunately she broke out of her box this morning and tried to kill me by making me trip over a carrot. She also scratched me-" he pointed to the left side of his face, which had a shallow claw mark on it; three small parallel lines.

"-and with all these acts combined I have decided to name it Sirius Black. Isn't that wonderful?" he said with a malicious smile.

Remus narrowed his eyes. He looked like someone had just told him there would be five full moons this month instead of one.

"Severus, that's not nice. I admit…it is clever, they seem to have very much in common. But that still hurts. He was my best friend, and now…"

"-and now his name lives on through a rabbit. Yes."

"That's cruel Severus." Remus muttered in low tones.

"What's cruel?" Albus intruded from directly across the table. He put down his glass to listen.

"Severus named his rabbit Sirius Black just because it doesn't like him and it tried to escape its box!"

Albus' first reaction was to smile, but he quickly changed it to a look of concern.

"Clever. But childish. Did this rabbit also disclose the location of Lily and James Potter to the Lord Voldemort? Because unless that happened, I don't think the name is fitting."

"No, but-"

Then Remus piped up.

"Yeah, and can it turn into a dog?"

Albus gave a confused look.

"What do you-"

"-nothing." Remus said very quickly.

They waved away Remus' strange outburst.

"I still think the name is fitting, Headmaster! I find it quite funny." Severus said, which was odd because he looked like he'd never found anything funny in his entire life.

The dinner progressed nicely, with more light chatter and Severus had to admit this was one of the best Christmas dinners he'd had at Hogwarts for a long time. It was mainly due to Flitwick and Hagrid singing carols and messing up the words, and Lupin telling jokes and funny stories.

Unfortunately, most of the staff had consumed too much alcohol to be perfectly capable of thought. If it was any other time, most would say that nothing they did that night was funny. But it was now. Severus even enjoyed himself, though Albus, Minerva, Filius, Hagrid, Sinistra, Sprout and Lupin obviously enjoyed themselves more.

It was simply a splendid time. However, the teachers had begun to feel a bit chilly. Though a cold winter evening, the castle was generally bearable. Immediately, Albus Dumbledore lifted his head and looked around suspiciously, like an animal that has sensed danger.

"I believe the front doors are open."

Everyone's attention was drawn to the doors of the Great Hall, through which was visible the Entrance Hall. Most there could see icy wind ruffling the draperies and rugs, and even some snow had started to come in. Dumbledore looked miffed.

"Peeves must have done this!" he said, in a voice that might not have been so angry if not for the fire-whiskey he had consumed.

"But how do we fix it?" he pondered further. Severus thought this an odd question since there was such an obvious answer.

Just then Remus Lupin piped up, his speech rather slurred.

"Close…" here he paused, as though he had just had an epiphany and was holding out for a dramatic effect.

"…the doors."

Albus and a few of the other teachers looked absolutely amazed.

"Merlin, you're right!" Minerva explained.

"You should go do that."

Remus looked confused and scared.

"It's cold, Professor. And what if Peeves throws things at me?"

"Take Severus with you!" Minerva said, in an urging tone.

Severus was not pleased to hear this. Can the man not do a simple task without help? Pssh, werewolves.

Outside in the Entrance Hall, Peeves was indeed swooping around through the air with armfuls of objects, though Severus was not quite sure what they were. Which made it much more terrifying.

Severus had obliged, grudgingly, to travel to the Entrance hall with Remus Lupin to shut the oak doors. Though childish, it was most likely best that Severus accompany Remus on this task because Remus, if left to do it alone, would undoubtedly do it wrong. Snape didn't know how you could mess up closing a set of doors, but he knew that if there was a way, Lupin would find it.

As the two crept out into Entrance Hall, they immediately saw Peeves. Remus became scared and hid behind the Potion's Master. Peeves spotted the two and started throwing what appeared to be chalk-covered erasers.

Remus grabbed Severus unceremoniously by the shoulders and moved him in front of him so that Severus received the majority of the damage.

Even as Remus attempted to hide himself, he knew even in his impaired state that it was a very bad idea. He wasn't quite sure why, but he knew that he would regret it afterward. And he certainly did, for when the barrage of erasers was over, and Peeves had laughed and glided away, Severus started by giving Remus a murderous glare and going on a tirade which included insults and death threats and no more Wolfsbane.

But payback was not yet over.

Remus and Severus walked toward the oak doors and stood at the foot of them. However, as they were half closed, Severus had a clever idea.

"Lupin, do you see that?"

"Where?" Remus questioned, looking around frantically.

"There is a unicorn out there on the edge of the Forbidden Forest, do you see it?" from here they had a clear view of the snow white forest, and the matching grounds leading up to it almost a half mile away. Severus pointed into the darkness. There was no unicorn.

"Oh, yes, I can see it." Remus said. "I can't believe they can tolerate this weather."

"They can. And I would really appreciate it if you could go and bring it to me. Unicorns are very valuable as potion's ingredients." They weren't, but luckily Remus was never very skilled at potions.

"But it's a long walk, Severus. "

"You can just ride it back."

The thought of riding a unicorn inspired Remus. "Alright but if I do that for you, will you promise to forgive me for almost attacking you in the Shrieking Shack during school?"

"Sure. Now go outside."

"Thank you, Severus, I'm sure we'll be great friends!" he said as he staggered out into the cold.

Back at the dining table, a few teachers were wondering what happened to their two co-workers. Did they get lost? Maybe something worse? Just then, Severus sauntered into the Great Hall looking indifferent to all the faces before him.

"What happened to Remus?" Sprout asked aloud, voicing the shared opinion of all the teachers.

"I believe he decided to head back to his quarters for the night. He staggered away before I could ask him."

Dumbledore spoke, in a much more sober voice than last time the potion's master had heard him speak.

"I believe you're lying, Severus. Remus would never leave without taking some of the dessert up with him! Where is he?"

"I told you, he ran off!"

Glares from all around.

"Don't fear, he will return eventually." Severus drawled, with the same apathetic voice as he had used the entire time.

A while passed in which the teachers continued their joy and holiday chatter, until a draft was once again felt by all present.

Dumbledore gave Severus an angry look. There was no twinkle in his eyes. Severus immediately began defending himself.

"I closed the doors, I promise. I'm quite sure I locked them also."

Albus and Minerva rose from their seats to go and see why the doors were suddenly open again. When a gasp was heard from the Entrance hall, all present at the dining table stood and followed. Severus was last to leave.

"Oh, my dear boy!" Severus heard Albus call even before he was out the doors of the hall.

One quick glance around the large doors told Snape all he needed to know. There was Remus Lupin, Defense teacher, standing in the middle of the Entrance hall of Hogwarts in the midst of his co-workers. Although covered in snow and nose bright red, that seemed not to have dampened his spirits. He spotted Severus soon after being questioned by Albus and shuffled over to him, clothes dripping freezing cold water along his path.

"It wasn't an easy task, Severus!" he slurred, holding out his clasped hand. He brushed some snow out of his hair not to realize it only landed on his shoulders.

He placed a small snowball in the other mans' hands, apparently convinced it was from the unicorn outside.

And with this, he turned directly around and marched up the grand staircase that would eventually lead to his chambers if he did not first get lost.

Severus vanished the pile of compacted snow with a quick _Evenesco_ and suddenly realized all his co-workers were looking at him suspiciously.

"Did you really lock him outside and tell him to go find you a snowball? Severus, do you have any idea how childish that sounds?" Minerva scolded, motioning to the door with her hands.

Severus accepted his blame and apologized profusely to the staff for his actions, only because he knew a quest for a snowball would go over much better than the truth.

All the teachers left the hall to collect their things from the dining table. Severus knew it was time to retire to his quarters for the night and made to head toward the dungeons. But of course, not before snatching some uneaten carrots for Sirius off the table.


	3. Potions

Chapter 3 :)

The next few days went by uneasily, what with Sirius Black escaped from Azkaban trying to get into the school and murder a student. Everyone was in a rush wherever they went and Lupin seemed very jumpy. Severus could tell he had a secret he was keeping for Black and although the Headmaster refused to accept the truth, he knew that Lupin was up to something sinister. Harry Potter and his friends Weasley and Granger seemed frightened also, most likely because they knew Harry was the target of an escaped murderous convict. But more importantly, Snape's rabbit had escaped again.

This was starting to become a habit with Sirius, whenever Snape would enter his back chambers after class or dinner, the box upon his polished mahogany coffee table would be empty. Not to mention all the 'accidents' that seemed to happen when the rabbit did get out of its home. Things would get moved around his chambers and placed into precarious spots. Doors would suddenly lock while Severus was in another room, and carrots kept turning up in very dangerous places!

He must get rid of it. What could he do with it? He knew of only a few potions that called for rabbit feet. And none were needed right now. He didn't really have time for a pet, he once had a fish that died after only a few days. He didn't know what happened though, after all, he fed it regularly and it had a nice seaweed for company. He was only a child then, and assumed it had killed itself because it didn't like him.

Nonetheless, he knew Albus would be upset if he tossed it. You can't just throw away a rabbit, it has to _go_ somewhere. And everyone would notice it was missing, Lupin checked up on her often; it couldn't be done. At least not yet. Severus tried unsuccessfully to push the thought from his mind as he prepared this week's Wolfsbane potion for Lupin. His two thoughts accidentally crossed, and he considered if it was possible that this pet was some sort of strange were-rabbit. He shook the image from his mind quickly. He didn't even mean to think of that, it just happened.

It was nighttime at Hogwarts, and the three crept silently down the dark, damp halls. They knew the route fairly well and everything was going according to plan for once.

"Oh Harry, I really don't want to do this! What if something goes wrong?" Hermione asked in a frightened voice.

Ron rolled his eyes and some of his hair fell into his face. "Hermione." he said. "We'll be fine. We are always fine! Whenever we go anywhere we're fine. And this is no different, it's just a little bit farther than usual."

Harry adjusted the Invisibility cloak around himself and his two friends, the only thing he could do right now to try and comfort Hermione.

The three were currently on their way through the maze that was the dungeons of Hogwarts. They were looking for the wall across from the Slytherin common room to write bad things on.

Ron's claims of "They did it to us first so this is the only choice we have." did not convince Hermione but she knew if she did not go with them they would be discovered and put in detention.

"These dungeons are so dark and gross." Harry whispered down the long hallway hopefully leading to the common room. They were already too deep into the many winding hallways to turn back now.

"I'm so glad I wasn't put in Slytherin just for that reason!"

The three made it to a fork in the hallways and since they had not yet attained James' map, they were unsure of which way to go. Although last year they had found their way, it was with the help of Percy Weasley. And even then they were not paying much attention to where they were going, as their minds had been focused on bigger plans. This time, they were on their own.

Ron pointed down the corridor on the right and they followed his lead, since no one knew better than to guess. As they approached the end of the torch lit hall, they all instantly held their breath as they heard a door open around the corner. They all suddenly recognized where they were, that they must have traveled in circles. They recognized the door to be from none other than Professor Snape's office and chambers, and knew that he would soon be stepping around the bend and right into them. They all hid against the wall opposite them as quietly as they could.

But he did not. No one came around the corner. He must have been standing outside his door, and was talking to someone who was exiting as well.

"-now leave." came Snape's voice from around the corner.

"I just wanted to say thank you for the potion, Severus. I know you don't enjoy making it but it really means a lot."

Professor Lupin was there. Getting that same potion, no doubt, that Harry had seen him drink in his office during the night everyone was at away at Hogsmeade. The three glanced at each other and could tell they were all thinking the same thing, and understood what was going on. None of them trusted Snape to begin with, but when he started making strange potions for their favorite professor, something made them trust him even less. The word 'poison' jumped to the forefront of all three young minds.

"Of course I don't enjoy making it for you, Lupin. Why would I enjoy it? It takes money, it takes time, and it takes effort; none of which I want to waste on you. "

Snape was horrible, Harry thought, not even being nice to his fellow co-workers. What a jerk.

"I know that, Severus and I'm sorry-"

"It's obviously not your fault. It's the Headmaster's. He's forcing me to make this potion. I could just lock you up in the Shrieking Shack, you know. Easier for me."

The three were puzzled to this, and would later talk about it and come to the conclusion that it was just a regular insult, with no meaning behind it.

They heard Lupin shuffle his feet.

"-and from now on, you are to come down here to retrieve it. I will not have you dancing around in front of students with it. This is a very unique potion and Potter seeing it up close is not dangerous, but if his friend Granger were to see it she would no doubt recognize it immediately. Then try explaining that, Lupin!"

They could hear the smile in Lupin's voice.

"Oh I'll tell them I'm just holding it for a friend." He joked.

A moment of silence, and then the creaking of the door.

"Good night, Lupin"

"-night."

And the three again heard him shuffle his feet to walk away, and the door shut. Although they were curious about the potion and why it must be kept secret, they had different problems to deal with currently.

The three wanted to continue on to find the common room and get back at Draco Malfoy and his Slytherin friends, but just as they began to walk forward, Remus Lupin stepped around the bend with a goblet full of the same substance he had been drinking when Harry visited him in his office. It was smoking, purple, and looked rather dangerous.

Lupin continued walking down the hallway away from the disguised children, and they saw him take a long drink from the goblet.

Harry was just giving Ron a look of relief when they heard strange noises coming from the direction Lupin had gone in. They could only see him at the far end of the corridor now, but they distinctly saw him stop in his tracks, and go very still. They wondered if he had heard them move.

They saw him drop his goblet, which was empty because nothing spilled from it. This scared all three of the students, and before they could react or even gasp in surprise, their Professor had collapsed onto his knees, clutching his throat, and then onto the floor. He was still.

Everyone knew what had happened, it was so obvious. But why would Snape poison him so close to his own office? Wouldn't he at least let him continue up to his rooms first to make it look like an accident?

Harry was frozen to where he stood, he knew they should run and help their favorite professor but risk being seen? It was worth it, Harry decided as he darted out from under the cloak. Ron and Hermione followed him, not thinking of the probability of detention.

They ran up and knelt beside their teacher, his eyes closed and his goblet lying beside him, empty. Hermione had immediately remembered what she heard the two talking of, and involuntarily glanced toward the inside, wondering if she could indeed tell what he had been drinking. But there was nothing.

Harry tried to wake him up by hitting his face a bit, but it was no use. They could at least tell he wasn't dead, because he still had a pulse and was breathing.

"Oh, what do we do? He's probably dead!" Ron asked, apparently he hadn't figured out what Harry had.

"Well obviously Snape tried to kill him!" Harry jumped to conclusions very quickly, it seemed carrying a grudge against a person for years can cause an outburst such as this.

Hermione tried to calm him down. "Professor Snape wouldn't do that! He just couldn't. Even if he wanted to I don't think he'd be stupid enough to do it right here! Or at least I'd hope not."

"Well what do we do now? We can't drag him up to the hospital wing, he's too heavy and we'd get him all dirty." said Harry.

"Well, he kind of already is dirty." Ron said bluntly.

"We'll talk to Snape, he can fix it. Hermione, can you go get him?"

Harry watched as Hermione left in the opposite direction without any words.

She returned moments later with the potion's master, who looked more confused than angry. He strode down the hallway quickly, following his student.

"Professor," Harry started, "We just found him…he just collapsed after drinking that potion, and-"

"Enough." Snape commanded. "Detention and fifty points each from Gryffindor for being out after curfew."

Harry was not surprised at all that he chose to dock points from Gryffindor before saving Lupin's life.

"Will he be okay?" Hermione asked, close to tears.

"Just help me take him to my office, I can find out what's wrong and administer an antidote."

Snape realized that the three looked very relieved, so he added, "If it's not too late…." with a smirk.

Now they were panicking again.

With a mix of levitation charms and Lupin's left arm draped over Snape's shoulders, they were all able to make it comfortably back to the office, where they were taken into the back rooms of Snape's living area. Remus was pushed down none to gently onto a sofa and Snape walked away quickly into his private brewing room. Ron, who had picked up the goblet, set it down on the table beside Lupin.

Snape came back soon with a small green vial of some gold liquid and fed it to the man lying unconscious on the puffy red couch. The students had stepped back from the sofa so as not to get in the way. As this was happening, Harry noticed he had never been here before. A quick glance around told him these were Snape's private chambers, where he lived and made potions. There was a small cluttered desk in front of a stone fireplace where a fire was raging currently. The room was well lit and surprisingly cozy. Two red armchairs and a matching sofa with a coffee table were there, and two doors leading off into other areas from the main room.

His attention was immediately brought back to the scene playing out before him, to his professor lying on the couch, catching his breath and waking up. Also what caught his eye was a small green and silver box sitting on the table adjacent from the sofa. It was full of carrots. Snape was a strange man.

Remus opened his eyes slowly, only to smile up at everyone around him. Normally people didn't smile when they saw Snape staring at them. However, Lupin did, and then glanced toward the students.

"Oh we're so glad you're okay Professor! " Hermione called.

"You just collapsed in the corridor and we found you and-"

Ron was cut off by Hermione again. "Oh we're so sorry we were sneaking around after curfew it's just, it's good that we were or else no one would have found you and you might have died-"

"Oh, Hermione, it's quite alright, I'm glad as well that you were indeed out after hours. I feel confident in believing Professor Snape already took care of some sort of punishment." He stated.

"I certainly did."

"Of course."

Remus made to stand up from his sitting position on the sofa, but Snape harshly pushed him back down onto the chair.

"What did you do wrong this time Lupin? I'm not going to have you keep this up and eventually kill yourself-"

"I'm so glad you care-"

"-because everyone would blame me."

"Oh."

Severus looked slightly irritated at the interruption but continued. Harry Ron and Hermione waited patiently in the background, not wanting to bother their teachers but not wanting to leave their favorite professor with Snape.

"Did your potion taste any different than usual?" Severus asked, trying to find what could have gone wrong. He was sure he made the Wolfsbane exactly as he always had. Maybe Lupin just didn't know how to drink correctly.

"I don't know, it tasted as horrible as it always tastes! Except for a bit of added mint flavor. And once my throat started burning I could only feel it for a few seconds before everything went dark. What did you put in it?" Remus answered.

"Obviously I didn't add anything different on purpose! I'll be in my back laboratory. Do not touch anything." Snape responded, adding much emphasis on the last word.

"Oh I hope you don't die, Professor." Hermione said quietly.

"Thank you Hermione, I hope I don't die either."

"Maybe they'll fire Snape…" Ron said. Harry just gave a look of exasperation and didn't answer.

"Not likely, Mr. Weasley." Snape barked as he brushed past the students and took a seat on an armchair next to Lupin.

Snape glanced down at the bottle he had brought with him, thought for a second, and then lifted up one of Lupin's eyelids and checked his pulse.

"Possibly." he said more to himself than anyone else.

"So will I live?" Lupin asked sadly.

"Yes, you're fine now, but more importantly…" Snape continued, although Remus felt there were very few things more important than his chances of surviving.

"More importantly, did you drink the entire potion? You didn't spill any?"

"Well, I think-"

"He did drink it, professor, we saw the empty goblet and nothing spilled when it fell to the ground." said Ron.

"Very well, you may go."

Harry, Ron, Hermione and Remus all made to leave, but Snape pulled Lupin back by the sleeve of his shirt.

"Not you, you stay. I need to talk to you." he said icily. Remus was seriously frightened.

He sat down on the sofa again, finding a nice silver pillow to lean against since he was still feeling a bit dizzy.

As the three Gryffindors exited the room, Snape waited till they had turned the corner to slam the door and start yelling.

"What is wrong with you Lupin? You're going to kill yourself because you're so stupid."

Remus was confused to say the least. How was it his fault this time? Snape held up the small bottle he had brought with him from his store room. He held it up so that Lupin could see it clearly and shook it slightly when he spoke.

"This is a rare sleeping serum. It does not belong in Wolfsbane and it also does not belong uncovered lying open on my desk next to my mixing supplies, but for some reason both of those things happened!"

"Oh so you did poison me then? I'm just glad we know now." Remus said sarcastically.

Snape looked furious; Remus was now hugging the silver throw pillow because if things got violent he may have to defend himself.

"I did not poison you Lupin! I don't know how this came to be opened on my desk and halfway drained but I know that it must have found its way into your goblet tonight. I did not put it there. All the signs point to this. It makes sense, you drank your potion slowly tonight since we were talking, whereas you normally finish it in one drink. It's a good thing you did because this serum is meant to act fast. You would've been dead if you hadn't paced yourself."

Remus just wanted to cuddle up on the sofa and go to sleep. It was late and someone was trying to murder him. For a moment he realized how Harry must feel every second of his life.

Instead he quietly got up and started pacing the small room. There was a sharp beam of moonlight that filtered in through the small stained-glass window in the corner. It fell on a coffee table and Remus' eyes involuntarily followed it. It ended upon a small green box.

"How's Sirius doing?" Remus asked, motioning toward the small animal. It was chewing a carrot and for some reason was literally glowing in the moonlight. Strange, most rabbits didn't glow. He then realized it was simply a trick of the light and the rabbit was actually wet, not sparkly.

"Severus? Why is this rabbit damp?"

"What?" came from the corner of the room where the potions master was sitting at a small dining table. "I'm trying to find who's broken into my laboratory I don't have time for rabbits!"

"But Severus, I think it has something on it. Some sort of potion! Maybe she found her way into your potions set!"

"It's not a 'potion's set' it's my career." Snape said, a bit annoyed with the way Remus Lupin seemed to diminish the importance of his job.

Severus inspected the rabbit and it did turn out to have remnants of potions ingredients on it, mostly what was used in Wolfsbane, but also the rare sleep serum that had caused so much trouble. They had found their culprit.

Remus was glad no one was trying to kill him. Severus was glad no one had broken into his chambers. All was well, until later that night. Lupin had left cheerfully and Severus had gone to bed. Severus was contemplating the situation and came to the conclusion that it was no accident. It was far from coincidence that a wandering rabbit climbed to the highest shelf in his office, found the most volatile ingredient, and added just the right amount to his potion.

He told this to Remus. However, it was three in the morning and Remus was not happy to be called down to the cold dungeons to discuss the motives of a rabbit. He grabbed one of Snape's headache-curing potions from a shelf and left in a huff.


	4. The End

Breakfast the next morning was laid-back and comfortable. Seen as it was Sunday, everyone was sleepy. But none were as sleepy as Severus. Harry and his two friends asked their Professors if they knew what had caused the near-death of Remus Lupin. Although Lupin and the children shrugged it off as a cute accident, Severus was not convinced. However, that evening, the truth would finally come out.

It was evening. Snape was sitting on the sofa that had previously been occupied by a very frightened werewolf the night before. Sirius was in his box, surrounded by more protective spells than needed for an animal of this sort. Severus was grading essays on the opposite side of the room, in front of the fireplace. He was feeling very good this evening; he had just organized his very messy desk and had only a few essays left to grade. As he covered the parchment in front of him with red ink and unappealing comments, Remus Lupin's voice sprang to the front of his mind.

"…_don't forget, you need to actually care for her. Not just feed her and clean the box now and then, but actually give her attention..._"

Glancing at the box, he put down his quill with more force than was necessary and stalked over to the pet. Glad to see it had not left its home, Severus took down the spells and held the creature in his hands. He brought it back to his desk, along with one of its toys and set them both down next to the pile of ungraded fourth year essays on Dragon Scale Usage in Potion Brewing.

The animal watched him contently and everything was well for an hour at least. Severus rose from his chair at about a quarter to nine and walked over to his dining table to grab an apple from the decorative fruit bowl. Of course, when he turned back around the only things next to his essays were a lone rabbit toy and an empty spot where its owner was a moment ago.

Severus swore quite loudly. Good thing there were no students to bear witness.

He stomped around the room looking for the rabbit as usual. This had happened many times, each search took longer than the last. It was his fault this time, however. As he was scouting through the silver couch pillows, he heard a rustling sound coming from behind his desk. He knew the rabbit liked to travel and although he'd looked there, decided it was possible the rabbit returned. There was no rabbit there, however.

Back to searching. Maybe I could hire some first years to look after it for me? He thought as he lifted up the covers to look under his bed.

His thoughts were interrupted by a flutter of paper back on his desk. He rushed back into the adjacent room just in time to see the rabbit climb up onto his desk and pull down many papers on its way up. But how could it do that? Rabbits did not just scale the walls of desks!

He took off his outer black jacket to reveal a white collared shirt, and was now able to roll up his sleeves so that he could better clean up the mess caused by the innocent animal. It was now situated upon Cho Chang's essay, getting comfortable.

An open desk drawer had been used for the rabbit to climb up onto the desk. Papers littered the ground and many had been pushed unceremoniously into the drawer itself. Including an ink bottle that had been shoved off the desk. Severus started cleaning up the essays from the ground. He had just organized his desk earlier! He was in such an angry mood that he violently reached down deep into the drawer to find his ink bottle under all the papers.

A rather loud yell escaped his lips as he withdrew his hand from the depths of the drawer. It was already bleeding horribly, and Bellatrix's emerald dagger had completely pierced his hand. He could see the sharp red tip through the top of his hand right above the wrist, marring the smooth surface with a razor sharp protrusion.

At least it was not so bad that the handle was touching his palm. He had used force to push his hand into the drawer, but his reflexes allowed him to move away quickly. Bellatrix's dagger had not been content with simply opening mail, lying in a dusty drawer. Now that he thought of it, he could have sworn he put the dagger all the way in the back, and underneath some books, and certainly not pointing directly upright.

That rabbit. That _thing_ had opened the drawer, knocked his ink bottle to the bottom of it and propped the knife up against something in there, he was sure. If he would have told this to anyone they would have laughed.

So he kept it to himself.

He casually picked up the rabbit, and tried to put it in its box but it bit him on his only useful hand, and before Snape knew what was going on, it darted from the room. Snape didn't care this time. All he wanted to do was rush up to the hospital wing. Unfortunately, in about ten minutes Lupin would be down for his potion again.

He grabbed a goblet and threw some new potion in it haphazardly, and walked up to the hospital wing.

On his way upstairs through the winding dungeon halls, he ran into Remus Lupin, who was looking for his Wolfsbane. Surprisingly, he was slightly relieved, as this meant he no longer had to carry the cup. Although he had taken a quick numbing potion before he left, his right hand still hurt like it'd been hit with a continuous Crutiatus curse.

When Remus spotted Severus, his cheery smile instantly turned to one of confusion and fright.

He swore loudly, not unlike Severus had done a few minutes ago.

"That's what I said."

"Severus, are you alright? I mean, obviously not! What happened? Did you fall on it? I fell on a knife once and it's not a good thing to do!"

"No I did not FALL on this knife, are you mental? It was somehow standing upright in my desk drawer and I reached in a bit too fast, that's all, now out of my way unless you'd like me to bleed to death here in this corridor, one minute away from the hospital wing."

Severus continued his walk up to the hospital, Remus made a quick decision to follow him, against Snape's wishes.

"Where did you get that rabbit, Lupin?" Severus inquired as they walked, wanting to find out why it was so deadly.

"You mean, your pet one?"

"…yes that one." He said through gritted teeth.

"Oh well, funny story!" he started with an awkward smile, "I wanted to buy you a rabbit, so I had to go to the only place in the Wizarding world that sold them, and that was Borgin and Burkes, down on Nocturne Alley. You know, that cozy little shop by Diagon Alley-"

Severus wondered how anyone could use the word 'cozy' to describe that wretched place.

"-the owner was so nice, too, apparently he is close friends with the Malfoys, and even some of the Blacks. He said the rabbit was on sale too, and that was perfect because I didn't have too much money of course-"

"Why was the rabbit on sale?" Severus was seething.

"Oh, well…it's not really important, that-"

"Tell me why. Now."

Remus weighed each word carefully so as to not frighten Severus too much.

"Mr. Borgin said it used to belong to a wizard who was mysteriously found dead in his house one day and all his possessions, including his rabbit, were sold to Borgin. So I figured, 'Where's the harm in that?' right, Severus?" Remus laughed a bit.

They had exited the dungeons and were climbing the staircase in the brightly lit entrance hall where days before, Remus stood dripping with snow.

Severus drew his wand, walking up a few steps higher from where Lupin was standing, and pointed it down at him.

Remus was therefore forced to do the same, in defense. "Severus, I'm sorry! Please, put away the wand, we don't need to fight…"

"Is this another prank of yours, hmm? One last go at me while you've got the chance…"

"Severus, you know I never wanted to play pranks on you, it was all James and Sirius!"

"That rabbit tried to kill me! And you. It did this to my hand!" Severus yelled. He held up his hand with the dagger still through it. By now, several students had passed through the hall and the hallways above it, and had stopped to listen to the argument.

"And YOU gave him to me. Is this some sick joke Lupin? "

"Look-" Remus practically yelled, "Let's just examine the rabbit and see if it really is cursed, or possessed, or whatever you claim it to be! And if it is, then we'll get rid of it and if it is just a normal animal then that's that. Let me go get her."

"It ran away, it could be anywhere by now." Severus complained.

"You have magic. Use it!"

"Don't tell me what to do!" But nonetheless, Severus said "Accio rabbit."

Now the group of Ravenclaws in the first floor corridor had just come across something that they didn't find in Hogwarts every day. They were petting a rabbit that had wandered into their study group, and were shocked when it was drawn out from under their hands in an instant as if pulled by an invisible string. It travelled down the hallway and out of sight. As it zoomed down the hallways of the school to the Entrance hall, it passed a very confused Headmaster, who recognized it and knew he should follow.

"I didn't know the summoning spell worked on animals…" Severus said guiltily as Remus gave a look of superiority that James Potter would be proud of.

Albus walked quickly toward the two arguing staff members but caught sight of Severus' hand as he approached.

"OH MY DEAR MERLIN!" The look on his face was terrifying and hilarious at the same time.

"What did you do to your hand you poor boy? Did you fall? I fell on a knife once and-"

"No I didn't headmaster." Severus started, his temper rising.

"Remus Lupin did this to me!" Albus looked over at Remus, aghast. Remus held up his hands in defense and quickly shook his head from side to side.

"By means of this rabbit." Snape finished, holding up the black bunny now in his left hand.

Albus took hold of the rabbit and examined it quickly.

"It couldn't have possibly done this to you, Severus." He said, worried.

"Can I please just go to the hospital wing, Headmaster? This hurts-" he held up his injured hand.

The three of them, along with the accused rabbit walked quickly to the hospital wing. Madame Pomfrey was quite angry that Severus had not come here immediately and scolded him for taking his time and loosing blood.

By the time the dagger was removed, several other teachers and also a few students came to see what was going on. Remus and Albus had stayed by his side the entire time, Lupin caring for Sirius. Once Snape was healed and cared for by Madame Pomfrey, he was released and he, Remus, and Albus travelled back down to the dungeons to make sure the rabbit was securely in her box and Severus was securely in his room. They were both convinced he had stabbed himself.

The next night, Snape was minding his own business reading his favorite potions magazine on his sofa with a hot cup of tea. It had just cooled down enough to drink, and as he put the glass to his lips, there was a rapid knock on his door. Lupin did not need Wolfsbane, not for a day still, and everyone was busy at this time normally. Since it must have been urgent, he threw down his magazine and before his hand left the door handle to let his guests enter, there was a mess of color as three students rushed into his office. He stood back only in time to stay away from the mad dash.

"Professor, I have seen your rabbit! And I have done a bit of research and it seems that this animal is dangerous!" Hermione Granger said very quickly.

Potter and Weasley were also there, all three being very unwelcome at the time. The two boys were carrying armfuls of books for Hermione, most likely the only reason they were brought along on her journey. They all stood there staring at their Professor, as if asking permission to further explain.

With one "Alright…" they took that as the go-ahead and immediately started making themselves comfortable on the sofas and armchairs and scattering books about the small table, much to Snape's dismay.

Hermione moved the box of rabbit closer to her to look inside, and started thumbing through a large brown book to her left.

Severus was a bit angry at the students for invading his private space and taking up his time. However, if they did indeed have a cure or solution to his problem, then he would let them in, and let them sit on his furniture and take up his space and time, and-

"Mr. Weasley put that down." Snape yelled as Ron started taking an apple from the fruit bowl in the center of the table. He was not going to let them get as comfortable as that.

"See, Professor Snape, we were in the hospital wing and we heard from Professor Lupin everything that happened! And we also heard you yelling in the entrance hall. I did some research and I think this rabbit is a dark creature." Hermione showed a torn yellowed page in the book to Snape, it read something about simple enchanted animals that were known to turn on their owners. Famous cases included dogs, cats, owls, and an unsuccessful goldfish.

"It's a simple curse, with a simple counter curse! I'm sure someone enchanted it and gave it to an enemy, and-"

"-and then Lupin gave it to me. Strange, he's the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, if anyone knows cursed dark creatures, it's him!"

"Yeah," started Ron, "Why wouldn't he have recognized that it was cursed when he got it?"

"That's the thing, this curse doesn't show up if you try to look for it, you have to know exactly what to look for, not just general magic."

Hermione was pointing to a page in the book while she talked. Indeed, everything made sense with this one discovery.

"I have tried to reveal any hidden magic that may be affecting the rabbit but nothing surfaced." said Snape, a look of comprehension dawning on his features.

Snape grabbed the book out of her hands, scaring her a bit, but he was used to students being scared around him. Once his eyes had found the spot on the page where the counter curse was listed, he picked up the rabbit and said the spell; a mix of chants and strange mumbles which the students were impressed could be read correctly off a printed page.

All that succeeded in happening as a result of the spell performed, was a situation unsolved and an edgy rabbit.

Just then Severus realized; the rabbit was no longer trying to escape his grasp. Normally when he held it, it refused to stop fidgeting. However, this time it was calm and content in his hands, very unusual. They agreed that the spell must have worked, and although no sure way to tell, could only give it time and hope there were no more mysterious 'accidents.'

Severus grudgingly thanked the three, mostly Miss Granger, for helping him. As the three made to leave, Snape saw Ron take an apple but ignored it.

Harry Potter suddenly got a hopeful look in his eyes, and standing in the doorway, said in an encouraging voice,

"Ten points to Gryffindor?"

Snape thought for a second before answering. "Yes, if you leave, now."

The three left in a very happy mood.

The next few days passed in a very normal fashion, Sirius the Rabbit did not once escape his box as long as some simple protective spells were placed on it, and even played with some of the toys in it. Overall, it was a completely normal pet. Severus was quite glad there were no more murder conspiracies to deter him from grading essays and reading his books. And making more Wolfsbane, seen as the full moon was approaching in a week. Time flies when you have a rabbit to take care of, Severus supposed.

That night, Remus Lupin made his way down to the dungeons of the school to retrieve his special potion. Hopefully nothing would go wrong this time, as strange things happened during the last two visits. And Severus was even in a much better mood than usual, Remus noticed. It must have been from the superb research skills of Miss Granger. Of course Harry Ron and Hermione had told him all about what happened, and how Snape even awarded points to Gryffindor when prompted to do so.

Remus felt slightly guilty that his gift tried to kill its recipient whereas the chocolate Severus gave caused no trouble at all. Remus knew it wasn't fair, but he supposed it wasn't his fault. How do you tell if the rabbit you're buying from a dark artifacts shop is a dark artifact? It was a typical mistake. Still, Remus felt he should apologize for the mistake.

Snape turned around just in time to see Lupin walking toward him with a smile.

"The door was open, so I figured I could just come in…" he started, gazing into the rabbit's box.

"No it was not. But here's your potion."

"I wanted to apologize for giving you a rabbit that tried to kill you. Harry and his friends told me all about it." He added, noticing the look of confusion on the other man's face.

"-and I just want you to know that I'll try not to do it again."

Snape handed him the Wolfsbane potion.

"So, how is your pet doing, Severus?" He asked, trying to make polite conversation. Snape would have rather he just left, but then again, this was Remus Lupin, always wanting to stay and chat.

"It's bearable. At least it stays in the box and also stays quiet. Just do me a favor, Lupin. Don't ever buy me a gift again."

"That's reasonable." He said. Snape took a seat at his desk and started grading papers.

"However…" Remus continued, his presence increasingly unwelcome, "I think it needs a new name. Since there have been no more escapes or attacks from it. "

"You're right. All it does is sit there and annoy me. I should name it after you." he said sarcastically. Remus did not catch on.

"That's a perfect name! And I would be honored, Severus! Remus is a great name."

"That's not what I meant-"

"See you at breakfast!" and with that, Lupin patted the rabbit on the head and walked out the oak door before Snape could object to the mislabeled rabbit.

Thanks for reading, hope you liked it!


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